Its Gonna Be Love
by Bohemian-Beautiful
Summary: One Shot with Lily and James. Lily takes a stroll through Hogwarts, what will she find?


**Disclaimer: **sighs no matter how much I might wish to own James Potter or any of his fellow character acquaintances…I don't, and as always, they remain a figment of the wonderful JK Rowling's imagination…and mine.

Summary: My first one-shot ever so don't be too harsh. Lily and James Potter pairing of course, its quick yarn about how they got together. Bit dramatic I reckon in the end. It'll take five minutes to read, but please review. You'll make my day if you do!

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"Lily!"

"Oh what do you want Potter?"

"I just wanted to…talk to you…about…the Yule Ball! I was wondering…if you wanted to…go with me?" he asked, talking as if he had suddenly hit upon inspiration.

"You want me? To go the Ball? With you? Are you ill?"

"No, I just thought, considering we're Prefects this year, it would be a good idea if we went together. Besides…there's no one else who can really keep up with me on the dance floor." He whispered, winking suggestively at her.

"Oh you absolutely sicken me Potter. You'd have a better chance trying to take Snape to the Ball before I would even consider going with you!"

"Oh come on Lily, it will be fun! You know Sirius is going with Arielle, and Remus with Gabby, so why don't you come with me so we can all stick together!"

"They are? Since when? How come they didn't tell me? But I'm still not going to go with you, and your absolutely insane if you think I am or ever would!" she yelled, stomping off into the Charms room.

Several sixth year students gave her the death stare, insanely jealous that the infamous James Potter would ask her to the Ball and not them. She strode over to her best friends, giving them the death stares for not telling her they were going with the Marauders.

"Gabby how could you? And you Arielle, how could you go with SIRIUS of all people? I mean, surely there must be other guys you'd rather go with!" She whispered vehemently, slamming her books onto the desk.

"Lily, settle down! We were going to tell you at Lunch but you were too busy fighting with James! Honestly, the Marauders aren't as bad as you make them out to be, I mean, if you only got to know James a little…"

"Shut your mouth Arielle Brown! I will not have you trying to persuade me to go with him as well! He is an egotistical, self centered, pig headed JERK and I would not go near him with a foot long pole!"

"Both of you, just leave it be! Flitwick's trying to start the lesson! Arielle, just leave it be, she'll come round!"

Sighing, Lily turned around to face her favourite Professor, trying to block out everything to do with James.

"Alright, today we are learning the highly advanced locking spell that will be tested in the end of year OWLS. Right, gather your wands…Miss Brown, where is your wand?"

"Sorry Professor, I must have left it in the Transfiguration Room…"

"That is entirely unacceptable! 10 points from Gryffindor! All right Miss Brown, please collect your wand. But hurry, this is a _highly_ advanced charm you are missing out on!"

Shaking her head at her best friends forgetfulness, she looked up to read the instructions on the board, and found herself staring into none other than James Potters eyes.

"Partner?" he asked.

"What? Oh, I suppose…" she said, reading the instructions on the board.

"Great! You can teach me this Charm. Flitwick's pretty insistent it's a tricky one. But you should be able to do it fine." He added hastily.

"Fine, whatever. Just don't annoy me."

"Me? Annoy you? You must be mistaking me for someone else!"

"Just watch it Potter, I don't want to deal with your idiocy today."

"Soooo…if I did this…what would you do to me?" And with that he grabbed his quill and started to tickle her with it."

"_Flipendo! Rictesumpra! Tarantellegra!" _she yelled, scrambling away from James, yelling out the first spells that came to mind.

Students watched the scene unfolding before them fearfully, knowing well the full extent of Lily's temper, and as she slowly advanced towards James, who was tapping out a solo in the middle of the room while laughing so hard he had tears running down his face, she extended her wand glared at the students, daring anyone to get in her way.

"Miss Evans, what is the meaning of this? I will not have such disruptions in my class! That's another ten points from Gryffindor _each_ for such disruptive behaviour in my class and a detention for both of you! My office, 8 o'clock tonight! Now sit down the both of you! And please kindly remove those Charms, Miss Evans. We do not want to watch James dancing on the tables any longer!"

Lily glared at the students who were groaning the loss of points. She quickly removed the Charms and sat back at her desk, as far away as possible from James, who had now sobered up.

"I warned you didn't I? I told you not to mess with me!"

"Oh Merlin Lily, I was just trying to lighten you up! You looked so gloomy so I thought I'd try and cheer you up, after all, that's what friends are for!"

"You, James Potter, are not my friend, so don't even try to privilege yourself with that title!"

"Alright then. I'll just leave you alone shall I?"

"That's all I wanted in the first place!"

Lily and James sat stonily at their desk, independently working on the Charm, both failing miserably, their minds somewhat…preoccupied with thoughts of the other.

'_That egotistical, arrogant, I'm-so-good IDIOT! Now I can't do this spell…and Flitwick's coming this way. Merlin I need to teach him a lesson or two!'_ she thought, furiously scribbling notes on to some parchment.

Flitwick was examining student's progress, making his way slowly but surely towards their desk, and they both heightened their efforts in trying to master the spell.

"Miss Evans? Mr. Potter? The spell, if you please."

They both looked up, startled to see Flitwick at their desk already.

"Right. Well, I'll go first shall I? Ok, let me see…_Liniosis_!" Lily said.

"No, no, no Miss Evans! You must flick your wand this way!" And he thus proceeded to demonstrate to her the correct wand flicking maneuvers while James unsuccessfully tried to steal glances at Lily, without making it obvious he was watching her, but was unable to take his eyes off of her.

"Alright students. Homework is 2 rolls of parchment of the correct wand maneuvers and the use of this spell, due next lesson! Ok, you're dismissed."

Lily breathed a sigh of relief, taking longer to pack her bag than usual, wanting to avoid James and his cronies. After she was sure he had left, she followed him out the door; glad it was the last lesson of the day.

Not wanting to return to the common room and face James, she decided to do a little exploration. She was always secretly fascinated about all the hidden rooms the castle had to offer, and listened with hidden interest to the boys' tales.

There was one room in particular which had alerted her interest, a room in the West wing of the castle on the fourth floor, a room that was said to contain the most beautiful mirror in the world.

Of course, she had done her research, and discovered it none other than the Mirror of Erised. Disbelieving, she decided the only way to find out was to see for herself.

Tall suits of amour magically saluted her as she walked past, doorways stood tall and firm in the empty corridors, the eerie silence making her feel slightly on edge.

She wondered why this part of the castle had been abandoned. There were a multitude of classrooms that could have been put to use for meetings or guest rooms or something, and it seemed a waste to not use them.

Every door was closed, and it was time consuming to open each one to see if it contained this mirror. She was about to give up, thinking it must have been all a tale when she came to a door that had been charmed, a door which she was certain contained something of importance.

Managing to open the door, she peeked through and saw the most exquisite mirror, standing strong and proud in the middle of an empty classroom.

The Mirror of Erised.

It suddenly dawned on her that maybe this is why this corridor isn't used anymore. Dumbledore must want to keep the mirrors presence quiet.

She walked up to it, not entirely sure what to expect, half fearing, half excited at what might lay within it. The framework was intricately complex, the word Erised carved in bold letters across the top. It was the most beautiful mirror she had ever seen in her life.

Her eyes traced the carvings, too afraid to touch…scared it would crumble away. Now that she was here, she was afraid of what she might see. She had dreamed about it, and spent precious time in and outside of class, day dreaming about what her deepest desire could possibly be, wondering if she needed the mirror to tell her.

Closing her eyes, she just stood there, calming herself and preparing herself for what she was about to see.

When she finally opened her eyes, she was startled to find herself gazing into a reflection of herself, but slightly older. The older version of her was standing in a park, watching a grown man with messy black hair trying to entertain a gorgeous baby boy.

Upon closer inspection, she realised the man was James.

_Potter?_ She stared in amazement, wondering why she was watching James play with a baby. Surely James wasn't her boyfriend, and _surely_ it wasn't her baby.

Her worst fears were confirmed when the older version of James put the baby down in a cradle and put his arms around Lily. It was then that she saw the rings. Two identical gold rings on the fourth finger of their left hands.

She was stunned. It was the only word to describe how she felt. Her and James? _Married_? With a _child?_ But how could that be? She hated James…didn't she?

Subconsciously, her hand reached out to touch the image, wanting to fall into that world, where she looked so happy and content.

She looked at the baby, who was watching his parents with wide eyes. Her eyes. And of course, James' messy, incorrigible black hair.

It must have been hours, but to her it seemed as if only minutes had passed when she heard the door creaking open. It was absolute torture to tear her eyes away from the happy little family eating a wonderful picnic.

"James? What…what are you doing here?"

"Well, we were all wondering why you hadn't showed up to dinner, so I came to look for you."

"Dinner? But we only just finished Charms!"

James' face fell. "Lily, its nearly curfew. You haven't been here the whole time have you?"

"Curfew? It can't be! Why, I've only been here for a little…" her voice died off as she gazed out one of the windows to see the half moon peeping out from behind some clouds.

She turned back to the mirror, looking at the family…her family she supposed, eating a little picnic and playing with their child. It was in that second that she realised that this was indeed what she wanted, her deepest desire.

It was all she could do to not laugh. Her deepest desire, what she wanted more than anything in the world was a family…with James, and she realised this with more clarity and understanding than anything she had ever realised before.

"Just a few more minutes James…" she whispered, lost in the picture.

"No, Lily. I will not let you waste your life away looking at some fantasy!"

"But if you could just see what I'm seeing you'd understand perfectly…"

"Lily, you need to come away from the mirror now. If you don't come away with me now, you will be lost to whatever you're seeing forever!"

"Just five more minutes James, then I promise I'll come." She whispered.

"Right. Just so you know this, I'm doing this only because I have to ok?"

"Mmmm…" she replied, staring dreamily into the mirror.

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James stared at her, wondering how someone so smart could get stuck looking at something. He made a mental note to ask her what it was when he got her away from the mirror.

He walked over to her still form; glad she was still standing, and bodily picked her up. As soon as she couldn't see the mirror, she started screaming and kicking, yelling for him to take her back to look at the 'happy little family'.

'_Where can I put her?_ _I'm going to drop her soon if I don't put her down.__'_ Quickly making a decision, he walked into another deserted classroom and placed her unceremoniously onto a desk, quickly turned around and locked the door with an advanced spell he was sure she had not mastered.

"JAMES POTTER! YOU LET ME OUT OF HERE INSTANTLY OR YOU WILL NEVER LIVE TO REGRET IT!" she yelled, running towards the door, pulling on the handle and kicking the door.

"Lily, you have to settle down! Stop it! Let go!" He grabbed her hands, spinning her around to face him.

"Let GO of me!"

"Lily. Listen to me. You have to stop! STOP!" He pulled her close, breathing steadily, hoping she would calm down.

"Lily! Please, stop all you're yelling and screaming. If I hadn't pulled you away, you would have been stuck there forever..."

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"LET GO!" Lily pulled on every ounce of strength she had left in her and pushed him away with such force he toppled head first over the desk behind him and landed unceremoniously on all fours on the ground.

"If you think you're going to be able to do anything with me here you are _seriously_ mistaken!"

"Lily. Stop this, nonsense right now. No, stop and listen to me. Do you _know_ what that mirror was?"

"The Mirror of Erised." She replied sulkily, trying to maintain as much distance from herself and James as possible, determined not to tell him what she had seen, or of her new found feelings for him.

"Lily…Lily look at me. Do you know what would have happened if I had not pulled you away from that mirror?"

She raised her eyes to look into his perfect hazel ones, struck speechless by what she felt for him. How could she have never realised she loved him so much? No, it wasn't love…it was like…very strong like…right?

"Lily? Lily! Lily, what…what did you see…in the mirror?"

She blinked and realised that James was now standing very, _very_ close to her. Backing away, she started to mumble incoherently.

"Happy little families…it was a little baby boy…wedding rings…oh can you imagine!"

"Merlin Lily, it can't have been that bad…what did you see? You can tell me…I promise I won't tell if that's what your worried about."

Stopping her movement, she stood very still, and raised her eyes to his, realizing he was yet again, very close to her.

"I saw you. And a little baby boy. And then there was me, an older version of me of course…we were in a park, eating a delicious picnic…you were playing with the little boy…and…and we were…we were married…and the little boy was ours…" she faded off, lost in the memories.

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James watched her reactions, amazed that her deepest desire, what she wanted more than anything else in the world, was to be married to _him_, with a family no less. He was taken aback by what this meant. Lily Evan liked him. Merlin, she might even _love_ him.

All because of a mirror.

He had grown to hate mirrors, grown sick of seeing the same old messy hair and the same old dull hazel eyes.

To everyone else, he might have looked content, and he did have a big ego…but it was all an act.

_Time I've been patient for so long  
How can I pretend to be so strong?  
_

He couldn't let everyone know that the Great and Mighty James Potter was incomplete, and that the only thing that would fulfill him was this flaming red headed beauty.

_Looking at you, baby_

_I'm asking you to hold me tight  
_

He couldn't remember a time without loving her…no…not love, just like, strong like. The way she moved when she walked, the way she talked…it was like watching a dance…so perfect.

But she had never given him the time of day…and even when she spoke to him it was a cutting remark or an evil glare.

Time am I restless or a fool?  
How can you pretend to be so cruel?

This was why he couldn't understand why her deepest desire was to be married to him.

"You mean…you mean that your deepest desire…is to…to be married to…to me?"

_Maybe it's me, baby  
Maybe it's true, baby  
Maybe it's everything we're dreaming of  
_We've waited long enough

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_It's gonna be love  
It's gonna be great  
It's gonna be more than I can take  
_

Tears glistened in her eyes, sure that she was in for a mocking laugh or a scathing comment…sure that it would be around the school before Breakfast tomorrow…how she, just like everyone else, had succumbed to James Potters 'irresistible' charms.

_It's gonna be free  
It's gonna be real  
It's gonna change everything I feel  
_

She braced herself, ready for the onslaught she was sure was about to follow…but nothing happened. When she opened her eyes, she just found him watching her, just standing there, the smallest of smiles upon his face. And why oh why was he insisting on standing so infernally close to her?

"Lily…look at me…please," he whispered.

_It's gonna be sad  
It's gonna be true  
_

She complied, knowing it was pointless to try and resist him, one tear slowly escaping from the corner of her eye.

He was so close, their noses almost touching. She didn't know what was happening, why were they so close?

Closing her eyes, she breathed in his smell…the expensive cologne she knew he wore every day, and tried to remember him, sure she would never get the chance to be this close to him ever again.

"James…I…"

"Don't…don't say anything. Do you have any idea how long…how long I have wanted to do this?"

"Do…do what James?"

_It's gonna be me, baby  
It's gonna be you, baby  
_

"This."

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_The sooner you let two hearts beat together  
The sooner you'll know this love is forever  
_

Gently pressing his lips against hers, he pulled her body close, marveling at the way their bodies fitted together so perfectly.

He deepened the kiss, losing himself in the moment of it all, years of pent up feelings exploding from behind a carefully erected barrier.

When he had looked into the mirror last year…he had seen the exact same thing as Lily and believed it entirely impossible. His feelings only extended to strong like…but he knew from this moment that everything was different

He pulled back; staring into her beautiful yet jaded eyes, his hands lost in her gorgeous locks of red hair.

_Love needs time now or never  
Its gonna be tough, you gotta believe  
It's gonna be strong enough  
_

"Don't play games with me Potter," she whispered.

"Its gonna be all right, I promise…I will never hurt you."

She closed her eyes, trying to remember this feeling of being loved forever.

"I love you," he whispered as he held her close, breathing in the smell of her hair, the taste of her lips.

He pressed his lips against hers giving her no time to answer. This time, their kiss was full of passion and…losing themselves in the moment and in each other.

Pulling back, she whispered so lightly that only James could hear her.

"I…I love you too."

_It's gonna be love  
It's gonna be me, baby _

_It's gonna be you, baby_

_Its gonna be love_

PLEASE R & R!


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